High school track: BYU-bound duo set state records at BYU Invitational

I knew I had run a great race, but no way I knew it was that fast. I mean, that’s a full second and a half better than my previous (best), so yeah, it feels amazing to have done it here in the finals.—Woods Cross’ Cam Dopp, on breaking the state record in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 36.30 seconds

PROVO — Given the venue, it made a lot of sense that both Woods Cross’ Cam Dopp and Davis’ Trevor Leavitt performed their best.

Both runners set state records Saturday at the BYU Invitational — Dopp in the 300-meter hurdles and Leavitt in the 400 meters. They did so running on a track they’ll soon become intimately familiar with having both signed to join the Cougar track team out of high school.

“This place is home for me. It already feels like home,” said Dopp after shattering the previous state record with a time of 36.30 seconds — a full 2.1 seconds faster than the next-closest competitor and quite a bit faster than the previous state record of 36.93 seconds.

“I knew I had run a great race, but no way I knew it was that fast,” he said. “I mean, that’s a full second and a half better than my previous (best), so yeah, it feels amazing to have done it here in the finals.”

One of the first people to congratulate Dopp on his record run was Leavitt, who completed his record-breaking performance two races prior. The two are close friends and look forward to racing with each other at BYU.

“We’re best of friends and we’re both probably going to room together when we get there,” Dopp said. “We always support each other and I’m just as happy for him and what he did today.”

Leavitt set a new state record in his race by the slimmest of margins, finishing with a time of 47.00 seconds, which broke the previous mark of 47.01 seconds set by Clearfield’s Tyler Crow in 2000.

Leavitt was quick to credit his teammates and everyone else involved for his success Saturday.

“A race like that is especially taxing because you’re putting everything into it both emotionally and physically,” he said. “I run for my teammates and when my legs are dead tired in that last stretch I think of my teammates and all my support and for all the help they’ve given me. They won this race and set the record, not me.”

Other highlights Saturday included American Fork’s Jonah Trinnaman scoring a time of 10.68 in the 100 meters. Despite outdistancing his competitors by a large margin, the senior speedster wasn’t all that thrilled after crossing the finish line.

“I wanted the record. I wanted it bad,” Trinnaman said after just missing the 5A state record of 10.67. “I mean, I’m happy I won, but I’m not going to be satisfied until I get that record. I now have two weeks to prepare until state, so I’ll be aiming for it.”

On the girls side it was Ogden’s Sarah Feeny, a future Ute, winning the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:51.28. Although the time was short of her state record of 4:50.04, Feeny was relatively happy with the result.

“I was hoping for a (personal record), but it was really hot today and I haven’t run many races outdoors yet, so this was good practice and hopefully it gets better at state,” she said.